Towel-cabinet



E., J. SHAUGHNESSY.

TOWEL CABINET.

ApPLlcATloN -HLED 1AN,14.192 0.

1,345,262.' Patented June 29, 1920.

/NvEA/Ton llll WIP IH Illll' IIIIN` E. J. HSHAUGHNESSY.

TOWEL CABINET.

. APPLlcAIloN FILED lAN.14. |920.

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` being to provide an improved support for a UNITED sTATEs PATENT oFElcE.

' EDWARD JAMES sHAUGHNEssY, or BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

TOWEL-CABINET.

Speciication of Letters Patent. Patented June 29, 1920,

Application filed January 14, 1920. Serial No. 351,444.

continuous towel strip which facilitates the use of the strip and prevents contact of clean portions of the towel with dirty portions thereof.

A further object is to provide a towel cabinet which will be economical in that the portions of the towel which are in use are maintained in a smooth condition and the dirty or soiled portions of the towel are maintained out of contact with the clean,"

fresh portions thereof.

A further object is to provide a towel cab. inet whichcan be conveniently and easily Voperated to present clean portions of the towel strip as may` bedesired and present a and prevent undue waste or extravagancein the use of the towel.

lVith these and other objects in view the invention consists in certain novel features of construction, and combinations and arrangements f parts as will be more fully hereinafter described and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings- A j Figure 1 is a perspective view illustrating my improved towel cabinet in use; j

Fig. 2 is a view 1n verticallongitudinal section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a top plan viewl of thecabinet with the cover, towel and guide plate removed;

Fig. 4 is a view in vertical section on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged view in'elevation illustrating my improved arrangement of.

gear wheels.

1 represents the casing of my improved cabinet which is\preferably, although not essentially, of sheet metal and of general rectangular shape having at its front and at its upper end a forward project1on'2 which overhangs a towel space and prevents dirt and dust from falling onto the towel. The sides 4, 4, of the cabinet project beyond the front 3v of the cabinet and have inwardly projectingi supporting flanges 5 on which vertical guide rods 6 are secured. These guide rods 6 at their upper ends are fixed to angle brackets 7 and they are spaced from the sides 4 and also spaced from the front of the cabinet for the accommodation of a roller 8 which they support.

This roller 8 may be of wood or other suitable material and is mounted to turn on a rod 9 having eyes 10 at lits ends, said eyes 10 positioned on the rods 6 and movable vertically thereon, yet maintaining the roller in` horizontal position at all vertical adjustments.

A frame 11 is removably mounted in the upperportion ofthe cabinet and has a fixed bottom plate 12and a removable guide plate 13 which constitutes a receptacle as well as a support for a towel roll n14. This towel roll may be of any desired\material constituting a strip closely wound in the form of aroll.

The frame 11 supports a pair of rubber covered or other friction rolls 15 located in a plane in advance of the rods 6 and saidy frame 11 also supports a pair of friction rolls '16 which are located in a plane in rear of the'rods 6 and above the front 3 of the cabinet which terminates at the bottom of the frame -`1l, but is entirely hid from view lby the towel and also by the overhung projecting portion 2 at thetopof' the cabinet.

A pair of intermeshing gear wheels 17 are fixed to turn with the rolls 15 and a pair of intermeshing gear-.wheels 18 arefixed to turn with the rolls 16 and these gears 17 and 18 are located on the outside of the frame 11, an ample space being provided for their accommodation in the cabinet, as clearly shown in Fig. 3.

A drive shaft 19 is mounted in theframe j 11 and carries .a relatively large gear wheel 20 which meshes with one of the gear wheels 17 and one of the gear wheels 18 and is provided with a pawl` 21 to permit turning movement in one direction only. vThis shaft 19 projects through a recess 22 in the side of the cabinet and is provided at its outer end with a crank 23 to turn the same. A removable cover 24 normally closesthe top ofthe cabinet and is provided with a knob j 25 to facilitate itsv manipulation.

The operation is as follows: The towel ioo roll 14 is positionedinthe frame 11 and roller 8, thence upwardly and between the rolls 16 and thence downwardlyinto the cabinet. W'hen a person desires to use the towel, he grasps the front run of the towel and uses the same, and during such use he will naturally draw this front run of the towel forwardly causing the roller 8 to elevate, the latter being guided in such movement by the eyes`l0 and rods 6. When the towel is released, the roller 8- will fall of its own weight and bring the front run of the towel into a straight or taut position and maintain the same in this position until the l towel is again used.

When a section of the towel becomes-v soiled, thev crank 23 is operated to simultaneously turn all of the rolls 15 and 16, thus not only feeding the clean portion of thev towel strip forwardly, but also moving the dirty portion .of the towel strip into the cabinet where it collects as shown in Fig. 2.

The soiled portion of the towel strip is always in rear of the clean or front run thereof and these two runs of the Itowel are maintained spaced apart by the weight of theroller ,8 as indicated clearly in Fig. 2. Hence, there is no danger of the soiled portion of the towel coming in contact with the clean portion of the towel and this is of eXtreme importance in" the prevention of contagion as each person using the towel is insured of a clean portion thereof which has been maintained out of contact with all other portions of the towel previously used. While it is desirable that the crank 23 be operated to feed the towel, it is obvious that a pull on the towel would causethe turning movement of all four of the rolls and thus feed the towel, and the only danger of this operation is the tendency to unevenness of the feeding action and crinkling of the towel. l

It will be noted that after the towel strip is once set in operative position, the roller 8 will maintain the towel in a smooth, attractive and convenient position.

Various slight changes may be made in the general form and arrangement of parts described without departing from the invention, and hence I do not limit rmyself to the precise details Sider myself at liberty to make such changes and, alterations as fairly fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim: 1.-A towel cabinet, comprising a casing,

1 side walls on the casing projecting beyond the front of the casing, an extension on the upper portion of the casing extending forwardly, whereby a towel space is formed between the projecting side walls of the c'asing below the extension, a pair of vertical rods located in said towel space, a roller set forth, but coni apart by said roller.

2. A towel cabinet, comprising a casing, side walls on the casingl projecting beyond the front of the casing,'an extension on the upper portion of the casing extending forwardly, whereby a towel space is formed between the projecting side walls of the casing below the extension, a pair of verti-` cal rods located in said towel space, a roller having vertical movement on said rods, two pairs of friction rolls supported in the casing adjacent the vextension and adapted to support and feed two runs of a towel located at opposite sides of the first-mentioned roller and normally held spaced apart by said roller, vand means for simultaneously f turning all of said friction rolls.

3. A towel cabinet, comprising a casing, side walls on the casing projecting beyond the front of the casing, an extension on the upper portion of the casing extending forwardly, whereby a towel space is formed between the projecting sidewalls of the casing below the extension, a pair of vertical rods located in said towel space, a roller having vertical movement on said rods, two

lpairs of friction rolls supported in the casing adjacent the extension and adapted to support and feed two runs of a towel lo cated at opposite sides of the first-mentioned roller and normally held spaced apart by said roller, and a partition in said casing dividing the same into upper and lower compartments, said upper compartment adapted to receive a supply roll, fand said lower compartment adapted to receive the soiled portion of the. towel.

4. A towel cabinet, having a towel space at the front thereof, a pair of vertical rods in the towel space, a horizontal roller, a rod supporting the horizontal roller, eyes on the ends of the last-mentioned rod movable on the first-mentioned rods, and two pairs of friction rolls located adjacentthe upper portion of said towel space, and between said pairs of friction rolls two runs of a towel are adapted to be respectively located when. said towel is positioned around the first-mentioned roller and held taut by the weight of said roller.

' 5. A towel cabinet, comprising a casing,

two pairs of friction rolls supported in the casing and adapted to feed a towel strip between them, gear wheels secured to turn with the friction rolls, a drive gear wheel driving all of said first-mentioned gear wheels, a pawl engaging the drive wheel permitting its turning movement in one direction only, means connected to the lastmentioned gear Wheel for operating the same, a weighted roller having vertical movement in the cabinet, and a towel strip located between said friction rolls and under Said weighted roller.

6. A towel cabinet, comprising a casing, two pairs of friction rolls supported in the casing and adapted to feed a towel strip between them, gear wheels secured to turn with the friction rolls, a drive gear wheel driving all of said first-mentioned 'ear wheels, a pawl engaging the drive w eel permitting its turning movement in one direction only, means connected to the lastmentioned gear wheel for operating the same, a weighted roller having Vertical movement in the cabinet, and a towel strip located between said friction rolls and under said weighted roller, said cabinet having a compartment receiving the soiled end of the towel strip and having a compartment at,

its upper end for the roll supplying the strip.

EDWARD JAMES SlIAlGHlESSY.` 

